A Common View on the War on Drugs

Photo: Toni Preckwinkle speaks at the Rally to End the War on Drugs (6.17.11-Chicago, IL)

From The Beachwood Reporter:

The Cook County board president [Toni Preckwinkle] probably is completely accurate in her assertion that the war on drugs is a failure.

World leaders say it, as did Walter Cronkite.

But here's the catch. If all the cokeheads, meth freaks and OxyContin warriors are released from Cook County jail this week, would Chicago be a better place to live? If we don't jail drug offenders for drug use and sale, do we have to keep them high so they won't rob us for a hit on the coke pipe?

Must we christen an official Pot Hilton? Everybody is stoned and room service is mostly Fritos, ding dongs and pizza at 4 a.m.

If the drug culture is flawed only because we apply a harsh and arbitrary judgment of an addiction, maybe the act isn't the problem; maybe we have a nomenclature glitch.

Maybe we solve the burglary problem by demanding burglars must take more than $500 of your stuff before we call it burglary. Below that figure, it's just Misdemeanor Borrowing Your Stuff Out of Your Home when you're not there.

While the War on Drugs is a lost cause, so is the War of Poverty. That's a greater failure.

In either case, people without jobs and without hope will do drugs because they really work, if only for a few hours. Putting druggies in jail might not be a sustainable policy, but filling the streets with stoned punks isn't either. Maybe we should think harder about jobs.

I was originally only going to post only a portion of this but its short and the whole thing needs to be addressed because I think a logical, common, and very flawed argument is being made here. First, I agree that poverty is a serious issue that is related to drugs use in many ways, but addressing jobs will not alleviate the problem when statistics show people in higher income brackets use drugs at comparable rates. Secondly, the call to end the war on drugs is not a call to release all drug related prisoners into the street like in Batman Begins and allow them to freely do lines of blow at the local McDonalds. It is a call to offer better alternatives than simply incarceration, which often leads to a life spent in a vicious cycle imprisonment. Lastly, yes there is a harsh and arbitrary judgment being made but the comparison used above does not fit. The harsh and arbitrary sentencing of drug offenders is vastly skewed towards minorities and has no way of differentiating between those who chronically sell and those whose circumstances don’t warrant the same punishment. Just read the Walter Cronkite article referenced above. The bottom line is that these types of arguments are particularly dangerous because not only are they patently false, they make too much sense to too many people.

-Tim

In Pursuit of the Common Good

We are not affiliated with this particular movement.

-Tim

A Step Towards Ending the War on Drugs or Doomed to Failure?

On the Frank/Paul legislation to end federal prohibition of marijuana, making it a states’ rights issue:

The most optimistic view of the bills chances (Reason Magazine):
Previous Frank-Paul partnerships include a 2010 op-ed to reduce military spending and a marijuana decriminalization bill introduced in the House in 2009. In the intervening two years, Arizona and Washington, D.C., have legalized medical marijuana, and the Connecticut legislature has moved to decriminalize it. Now former U.S. Attorney John McKay and Seattle City Attorney Pete Holmes are organizing to completely legalize marijuana in Washington State. The time is ripe.


Not optimistic but thinks it’s a fun exercise (The Atlantic):
In the era of the Tea Party, when conservative Republicans are insisting that state governments be permitted to reject Obamacare, turn down bailout money, and otherwise flex their muscles, it's a tough moment to insist, "Yes, marijuana is different: the feds should prevail." Of course, the bill is likely to fail anyway. In killing it, however, various hypocrisies will be highlighted. As a result, federal prohibition of marijuana will wind up marginally less tenable than before.


And the one that says you are wasting your time even thinking about this (Washington Post);
The bill has no chance of passing the Republican-controlled House.
The bill would have to go through the House Judiciary Committee. Chairman Lamar Smith, R-Texas, said his panel would not consider it.
“Marijuana use and distribution is prohibited under federal law because it has a high potential for abuse and does not have an accepted medical use in the U.S.,” Smith said. “The Food and Drug Administration has not approved smoked marijuana for any condition or disease.
“Decriminalizing marijuana will only lead to millions more Americans becoming addicted to drugs and greater profits for drug cartels who fund violence along the U.S.-Mexico border. Allowing states to determine their own marijuana policy flies in the face of Supreme Court precedent.”

-Tim

The Moral Arc and the Daily Line - A new blog from Protestants for the Common Good

Protestants for the Common Good is an exceptional organization at the forefront of Progressive Christian political advocacy and theology. With a dedicated and brilliant team, PCG works tirelessly so that every individual is given maximum opportunity to flourish and contribute to the whole.

My name is Tim, and I just want to figure out what all that stuff means. Please join me as I blog here for the next few weeks and try to offer a different take (for example: What would Jesus say to Noam Chomsky? Why do so many evangelical Christian men in their 20s have soul patches? How many useless youtube links can I fit into one post?) on the work of PCG from someone who finds the intersection between politics and religion to be both incredibly fascinating and incredibly funny.


-Tim